


Going Home is Hell

by MoonStarDutchess



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 16:18:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5877397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonStarDutchess/pseuds/MoonStarDutchess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After several attacks around Central City, Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye must go to a safehouse and come face to face with their pasts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. On an Autumn Day, You Can Hear a Gun

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rinoaebastel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rinoaebastel/gifts).



> This story was deleted from fanfiction.net twice, likely due to the word hell in the title. The first time I received no reason for the deletion in the email. The second I didn't even get an email. A friend told me that it was deleted. I assume it was due to the word hell in the second time. This could possibly fit in cannon of the anime in certain aspects but overall treat this as an alternate universe type fiction.  
> IMPORTANT NOTE: The family and background of Riza and Roy in this story does not fit within canon. The original was written long before any of the series' and manga was completed. I could've changed the family situation but since it's the basis of the original version of the story, it wouldn't be the story people requested if I did that.

  

The first week of September was a month of celebration for the nation of Amestris. Since the fall of the previous government and installation of the new one, peace came to the country in many aspects. Ishbal had been rebuilt for two years now, was a thriving center of trade, and its relations with the Amestrian government were beyond expectations. Around the same time of Ishbal’s rebuilding, peace treaties with Aerugo and Drachma were signed. Though the diplomatic relations were solid, it would be a long time before either country would fully trust each other. This was especially true for Drachma.

It was first thought that Amestris (or more specifically the homunculi) had started the war with Drachma, but upon further research it was discovered that wasn’t the case. Drachma had invaded first, craving the oil, coal, and other natural resources that the northern sections of Amestris possessed in abundance. Now, there were arrangements for Amestris to help Drachma with resource needs in exchange for resources from Drachma that Amestris didn’t have.

Aerugo and Xing were the strongest allies of the new Amestrian government. There was never any trouble with Xing, so with the help of then prince and now emperor, Ling and his association and friendship with a general in Amestris, an alliance was smooth fostering. But a treaty and coalition with Aerugo had proven to be more difficult. Aerugo had supplied weapons against Amestris during the Ishbalan war, and Amestris tried to take land belonging to Aerugo for years after that. Though the alliance was precarious for the first year, when Amestris moved its army out of Aerugonian territory, situations ameliorated.

There were still many disputes between Amestris and Creta, but it was less on Amestris’ part and more to do with the inner workings of the country itself. Until they could fix their civil disputes, there was little Amestris should or could do to develop a relationship with the nation.

But today, Central was celebrating with the countries they had relations with. Central City Park was crowded with people from different countries who were enjoying the festivities and not thinking about the negatives that still lingered politically. The Amestrian government may have still been despised in some regions, but the citizens were quickly becoming loved among the tourists.

When those people returned home, they reported that they were welcomed and valued. They lauded the safe atmosphere that Central and other cities in the country provided. Fuehrer Grumman made sure that the country knew that part of that was due to Roy Mustang and his team’s courageous conduct in the face of betrayal.

And Roy Mustang was enjoying the celebrations with everyone else, though no one knew it. His normal uniform was gone and replaced with a blue shirt and a pair of black slacks. A brown leather jacket shielded his arms from the crisp autumn air and a scarf kept the chill from hitting his neck. A pair of sunglasses hid his identity well without being obvious that he was trying to blend in.

A blonde woman walked at his side. She was dressed in a simple pink coat that extended down to her knees. It tied around her waist and buttoned. Her dress was short, but not immodestly so, and she wore a comfortable pair of pumps on her feet. She also wore sunglasses to conceal her identity, but considering she was dressed in clothing and donned a hairstyle atypical of what people were used to when regarding her, it wasn’t likely she’d be noticed with or without the glasses.

It wasn’t that they were famous in anything other than name and reputation, especially not her, but there were many military personnel there that would salute them or mentioned their names if they were spotted. That would result in people trying to get near Roy. And if the women heard his name, they’d look closer and recognize him. During his lady's man period, women liked him for his “heroic” deeds in Ishbal, and now that he was a hero in another sense, even more flocked toward him. Not that it mattered because he only had eyes for one woman, and she was at his side.

“I never thought a day like this would ever happen,” Roy said.

“The festival started last year,” Riza said. “This is just the first year you’ve been able to go.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Even though his lover was extremely intelligent, sometimes she couldn’t pick up on the nuances of what he meant unless it had to do with work. “I meant peace with us. We’re able to walk arm in arm in public without worrying as much.”

A grin flickered on her lips. “We aren’t walking arm in arm.”  
Roy stopped. “Yes, and I was thinking we should remedy that.” He offered his arm to her and she took it without hesitation. They began walking again. “Isn’t that so much better?”

“Much better.” She squeezed his arm with hers as they crossed into the area where the vendors set up the boots to sell their goods. The smells of pumpkin brownies, cookies, and fresh apple cider drifted to them. "My favorite thing about autumn is the smells."

He smiled at her. Though he agreed, he hoped to change her mind about that very soon. If he got the time to do so before fall ended. They’d been so busy at the office that their personal lives took a backseat. Their time together today, which happened thanks to Grumman, was the first instance in two months that they’d been able to spend some time alone other than sleeping (and only sleeping) at each other’s place.

After buying some warm cider, they walked to where the item vendors were. As they admired some Drachman pottery, they heard a familiar voice and froze. Out of everyone they knew, only one person’s voice would be able to carry over the crowd around them. They glanced in the direction it came from and their eyes widened.

“I knew it,” Roy said. Rebecca and Havoc were there with Denny and Maria. Luckily, the group hadn’t spotted them. Yet.

“Damn, we need to get out of here before the harpy’s Riza detecting skills start up,” Roy said.

“Agreed.”

They crept back a few steps at a time, as if trying to avoid a wild animal, then slowly turned on their heels and walked away as fast but as casually, as they could. They found a spot under an oak tree, and moved around so they weren’t in view of the vendor area.

“Leave it to us to run upon her in a group of hundreds of people,” Roy said.

Riza rested against the tree and slouched. “A few more seconds and we wouldn’t have been able to sneak away.”

Roy leaned forward so he was closer to her. "Usually you tell me to be nice to Rebecca. I called her a harpy and you didn't say anything."

When she bit her lip, Roy wanted to take it between his own teeth. Or better yet, be the cause of her biting her lip until she drew blood. When they were in bed and he hit the right spot with his tongue she made this odd but pleasant little purr sound right before she twisted her hands in his hair and…

Enough of that Roy. You don't want to get into that sort of state in public.

"I wanted time alone with you, and I knew we couldn't get time to ourselves with Rebecca around,” Riza said.

She was right. He knew Rebecca teased Riza about him a lot, and probably suspected their relationship was exactly what it currently was, but she made it clear that she didn’t think Roy was good enough for her best friend and made it a habit of trying to fix Riza up on blind dates. Much to her frustration, Riza was always either busy, or turned her down flat.

He put his hands on both sides of her, bracing against the tree. Instead of moving away, Riza’s hands came up to his scarf and straightened it. "Are you finally coming to see the light?”

"I’ve always seen that she does that. It makes me frustrated because I want her to want us together. I don’t think that will ever happen though.”

He wanted this day to be pleasant for both of them, so he changed the subject. "Enough about the harpy.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “We were talking about fall before. Want me to tell you what I love about this fall in particular?”

“Why don’t you show me instead of tell me,” she whispered as her arms moved up and around his neck.

Just as he leaned in to kiss her on the lips, several cracks burst into the air joining the cacophony of festival and city noises. When a bullet hit the tree next to them, Riza grabbed him and shoved him around to the other side of the tree and down onto the ground. The crowds at the stalls either took cover or ran from the area screaming as more shots fired one after another with only a brief pause between each one.

Riza muttered something he couldn’t make out and drew her gun. She peeked around the tree, probably looking for clues as to where the shots could come from. “I can’t see anything without standing,” she said. She didn’t make any move to adjust her position since it was unsafe for her to move from her lowered spot.

Roy reached into his pocket, slipped on his gloves and was going sit up, but he couldn’t move.

"Stay down! We can't have you getting shot!"

“I'm out of sight, Riza. If I were the target he would have fired at me.”

“That's idiotic logic you stupid man. A shot hit right beside us! The shooter is aiming at anyone he can!”

“I am not stupid!”

“Don’t fight with me on this, sir, or I will knock you out with my gun,” she said and pushed him back down.

He did as she directed even though he doubted she would follow through on her threat.  
She stayed on top of him until the environment around them silenced. She let him up, but grabbed hold of his arm as if he were stupid enough to suddenly run out there. They both looked out at the grounds.

He knew the majority of the people on the ground were still alive, but they remained still, likely frozen in fear from the gunshots. A group of soldiers, many of them covering other people with their bodies, stood and began ushering the crowds up and out of the area so they could better find those struck by the assailant’s bullets.

“It appears I jinxed us with that peace comment,” he said and sighed. “Looks like duty calls.”

"That it does, sir, but not our duty this time. Not here at least. It's my job to get you back to headquarters safely."

"I think we should be helping out there."

“That’s not your job anymore. You're vice fuehrer now, your safety is tantamount."

And once again, she was right. He'd thought his position would afford him the ability to help more people. Even though he was helping more than ever before, it was behind a desk and felt less impactful. He couldn't feel more effete if it were raining.

"All right then, let's go."

“You’re going along with it that easily?”

Roy nodded. “I trust what you say.” Besides it would put her at risk if he argued, and he would lose anyway.

She took the time to kiss the side of his mouth. “Thank you.”


	2. Separate and Keep Safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist and gain no profit from this fanfiction. I do own any original characters that may or may not be present in this story. Any beliefs expressed within this fiction are not necessarily the views of the author.

 

 

 

As soon as Riza walked through the mansion’s door, Rebecca greeted her with a serious expression and an inch-thick file. “Those are the papers you need to go over for the new hires,”

She would do that later. For now, recent events needed to have priority. “What is the current status and whereabouts of Fuehrer Grumman?”

She’d just gotten Roy to safety an hour ago, and had been with the guards walking around the perimeter of the mansion looking for anything out of the ordinary. That wasn’t in her job requirements now, but she couldn’t focus until she did something physical herself to ensure Roy’s safety.

“He’s still at his office in headquarters,” Rebecca said.

Riza stopped walking. “He’s supposed to be at the safe house. That was the first thing I ordered his security detail to do.”

“He ordered them to disregard your orders.”

“How in the hell does he expect me to do my job properly when he does that?”

“The old codger said there was no reason for him to hide if it was a shooting in the park because he wasn't the one being targeted,” Rebecca said.

She would’ve scolded Rebecca for calling the fuehrer a codger, but right now the name suited him exceedingly well. “He’s a stubborn man. I’ll have a talk with him to see if I can convince him.”

Rebecca motioned toward the door behind Riza. “Is he more stubborn than that one?”

“Oh, he is by far. At least Mustang listens to me. Unless the shooting was a spur of the moment thing, I don’t think he was a target either. There was no way of knowing he’d be there. I didn’t find out we were going to the festival until the last minute.”

“Speaking of that, what were you two doing there exactly? Together I mean. Is there something you aren’t sharing with the group? As distasteful as I find a relationship between you two, it’s…”

“Conversations like this aren’t fit to have while on duty, Lieutenant Catalina,” Riza said. She rarely used rank on Rebecca unless in formal company, but in certain instances it was handy even if her friend knew she wouldn’t likely enforce it.

“Oh, come on. Don’t pull that right now. You won’t even talk about this off duty.”

She’d been tempted several times to tell Rebecca exactly how deep her relationship with Roy went, but she needed to discuss that with him first and hadn’t found time to do it. She knew many of their friends and coworkers were suspicious of a relationship between them, but none had said anything because of past fraternization laws.

“He wanted to go out for a while, and I wasn't going to let him go alone,” she said.

“You don’t expect me to believe that.”

She should’ve known Rebecca wouldn’t be satisfied with that answer. This could be an opportunity for a little fun. She heaved a fake sigh.

“Okay, fine, I’ll tell you the truth.”

Rebecca perked. “Really?”

“But you can’t tell a soul,” Riza said.

“You know I won’t. I won’t even tell Havoc.”

Riza smiled at that. Much to her, and everyone else’s, surprise, Rebecca and Havoc bonded quickly when he got to Central and healed. They started out as friends. Then she started going to his physical therapy sessions with him when she was off duty. They were in a serious relationship within two months of seeing each other every day. Both of them deserved a significant other after all the terrible dating luck they had in the past. Riza motioned Rebecca to come closer.

“You know that I trust Mustang more than anyone, right?”

“Yes, but I won’t judge you for it.”

Riza backed away. “If you’re going to act that way then…”

“I’m sorry. It’s a habit to insult him. I’ll do better. Really I will.”

Riza didn’t believe her but continued anyway. “Remember a long time ago in academy when the girls all got together and talked about our fantasies?”

“Yes, it was amazing. You were a dick in the mud and wouldn’t tell yours though.”

Riza ignored Rebecca’s goof with the idiom. “Well, I was making mine come true today. I always wanted to screw against a tree in a crowded park, so it was really easy to get him to come help me do that.”

Rebecca jerked back from her and wrinkled her nose. “Now you’re just patronizing me.” She folded her arms.

Riza laughed. “I'm sorry, Rebecca. You're just so easy to bait.”

“You've been working around him for too long. You're starting to get some of his traits.”

“If that was the case, I would’ve taken on his actions years ago.” She would never admit it outright, but what Rebecca said was true. She wouldn’t have tried a joke like that a few years ago. Since they’d started dating and seeing each other more outside of work, she was picking up a bit of Roy’s mischievousness and sense of humor. “Let’s get back to working, Lieutenant Catalina.”

“She’s using the rank thing again,” Rebecca muttered.

“We are military, what did you expect?” Riza opened the door to the room behind her and entered. Rebecca followed.

Roy was pacing left to right, turning exactly when he got to the end of the rug draped in front of his desk. All this waiting around in a safe place was already getting to him even though he’d only been there for a few hours. He stopped in his movements and looked at her. “Any news?”

“Nothing yet. They’re still investigating the scene and surrounding area.”

“And I suppose that I won’t be getting out of here anytime soon.”

“No, you won’t. Especially since Fuehrer Grumman is being idiotic,” Rebecca said.

Riza elaborated when a confused look crossed Roy’s face. “He says there’s no need for him to go to a safe house since he wasn’t the one targeted.”

“Well neither was I, yet here I am.”

“If there’s someone attacking a nationally funded event, even if it’s for civilians, it is to be automatically assumed that the fuehrer and vice fuehrer are in potential danger,” she said.

Roy nodded. “He needs to stay as safe as possible until we know more. We can't risk the leaders of the country.”

“I’m glad you agree,” she said.

“I’ll have a talk with Fuehrer Grumman and see if we can get him to go to a safe place.” He started to walk past Riza, but she placed a hand on his chest and pushed him backward. What was it with this man wanting to risk his safety so often? If she didn’t know better, she’d think he enjoyed being shot at.

“Nice try. Since Grumman refuses to go into hiding, we have to keep you here, Mister Vice Fuehrer. I’ll talk to Grumman myself.”

Rebecca laughed when Roy’s face fell. “She’s right, sir.”

He went over to sit in the chair next to his desk. “Yes, as always.” He leaned forward. “I hate this.”

Riza wanted to walk over and run her hand through his hair to ease him, but she couldn’t while Rebecca was there. “Rebecca, I need you to go get some of the vice fuehrer's paperwork from the office at headquarters. While you're there check in with the investigation department to see if any progress has been made. ”

“Will do,” she said. “I’ll be back soon.”

She left the room and shut the door. Riza went over and locked it. “Rebecca, I know you’re listening at the door. Get to work.”

“Damn it. How does she do that?” Riza heard her say before fading footsteps made their way down the hall. What did she expect they’d do? Screw on the desk? Well…they had before, but the house was empty when it happened. She’d been particularly horny that week. He’d been surprised but welcoming to her slamming him against his desk and riding him like a rodeo star.

She pushed that thought out of her head to keep from blushing and focused on the annoyed man in front of her. She walked toward him and was about to touch him when he looked up at her. “I’m so useless.”

“No, you aren’t. You’re staying safe here for the sake of the country. That’s not useless, that’s being sensible. If the country doesn’t have a vice fuehrer in the event that Grumman is hurt or killed, then the ruling would fall to someone in the council, and probably to one of the power-hungry assholes.”

Roy paled. “Just hearing that makes me want to go hide in a close somewhere.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary. I’ll make sure you aren’t hurt.”

“That worries me even more.”

Even as head of security she still wasn’t officially his bodyguard and never had been. Roy never asked that of her. He just said to follow behind him and shoot him if he ever strayed from the right course. She figured protecting him came right along with the duty to do that, and she made that commitment to him. She never knew Roy hadn’t considered she would actually take a bullet for him until the fight with Scar in the rain when she knocked him off his feet. Later that night, he came to her apartment and kissed her senseless.

She was never shot protecting him until the Ishbal restoration project went underway. They’d been in Ishbal and were about a year into the restoration. It was at a building site that the elders were blessing. She and another man had covered Roy and were hit by stray bullets. It was the Ishbalan crowd that was the target. There were a few Ishbalans that didn't take kindly to any Amestrians, especially military, being there, despite the fact they were needed to assist the Ishbalans both financially and technologically since they’d refused alchemy help. Their view was that their fellow people needed to die to get out of the grasp of military scum. The three men that shot at them were condemned by the Ishbalan elders and sentenced to life in a prison in Central as long as they were treated with humanity.

Riza admired the dedication to their religion and was amazed at their forgiveness. She wished she could believe in a higher power, but she’d been through and see far too much to think there was a kind caring god. She did like some of the morality rules of some religions and thought they were interesting codes to go by, but they weren’t anything that she didn’t already follow even as an agnostic.

“I know it does,” she said, “but you’re important.”

He stood and hugged her. “So are you. You aren’t a bodyguard, Riza. Stop acting like one. You’re head of security. Your protection is as important as mine at times like this.”

That was true for him, but in the grand overview of things, he was wrong. “It’s the duty of all military personnel to protect those around them,” she said. “I won’t stop protecting you.”

“There’s no use arguing with you is there?”

She looked up at him. “You know there’s not. I’m more stubborn than you are.”

“And that’s why we make such a great match.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “Just don’t be reckless when it comes to my safety.”

“Unlike you, I’m never reckless.”

He gave her a quick kiss and went over to sit at his desk. “Don’t you think this—” he motioned to the desk, “—is a bit excessive?” He was referring to the fact she had it moved away from the window. Roy was a fan of natural light when working.

“It’s a precaution. A good shooter could get you from here if they were on top of one of the nearby buildings.”

“Didn’t you clear the area?”

“Yes, but you never know what could happen. I promise I’ll have it moved back to its old place as soon as we change the curtains to something more opaque.”

 Roy snatched a paper off of his pile of work and began filling it out without her telling him to. He never was as bad as she teased him about, but the changes in his work ethic since the defeat of father and recovery of his eyesight had been astounding.

“I’m going to get some work done after I call Fuehrer Grumman.”

“You’re not going to headquarters are you? You already sent Rebecca there.”

“No, I set up a small area in one of the libraries here where I could work. Master Sergeant Fuery is working with me as well.”

“He’s still in Central? I thought he and Sciezka moved.”

“Fuery has been my assistant for the past four months. How have you missed that?” Fuery had shown an interest in sticking to mainly office work after what he’d gone through in the southern regions. She trusted him with her life so she could think of no one better than to work with her. He’d proven extremely adept at security work, and it helped he could create secure lines quicker than anyone else in the military.

“Well, we have been working hard.”

“That’s true.”

“Havoc, Fuery, and I are the only defense inside,” Riza said. “We have guards guarding the perimeter, but stay away from the windows, sir.” She went over to the door.

“I love you,” Roy said.

She turned and smiled. Since the unneeded but desired confession to her, he never let her leave without telling her that in some way, whether it was a subtle squeeze of the hand, a whisper, aloud, or just a brief gaze into her eyes. “I love you too, sir.”

           

 

 


	3. Various Relationships  Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Fullmetal Alchemist and gain no profit from this fanfiction. I do own any original characters that may or may not be present in this story.  
> An: This story does not follow the canon storyline regarding Riza’s parents.

Rebecca noticed the odd look Havoc gave her as she removed her coat from the closet. “What’s wrong with you?”

“You’re going out?”

“I have to go to headquarters.”

“I don’t like the idea of you going out when there’s a shooter around,” Havoc said.

She rolled her eyes but then realized she felt the same way when he left. It was one of those weird sensations that overtook a person when they became part of a couple. No matter what the job, she supposed there was no wiping out emotions like that. “We don’t have any reason to believe they’ll be attacking around the city.”

“We don’t have a reason not to believe it either.”

Rebecca put on her coat. “I’ve been in the military longer than you have, and you’re the one worrying about me. You never did it before, so why are you starting now?”

“Well, before that I thought you were a loudmouth, gold-digging bitch,” he said.

“You mean I’ve changed that much?”

“The loudmouth part hasn’t.”

Her eyebrow twitched. “And I only like you for your money.” Her retort lacked the bite it would’ve had a year ago.

“I’m going to inherit a country sundry shop, and I’m living off of a lieutenant salary. Yeah, I’m rolling in the dough.” Havoc reached into his jacket pocket and frowned when he pulled out his wallet.

When he sighed, she smiled and placed both hands on his shoulders. “You’re doing good.”

“We’re both lieutenants. I want to know how much you make that would make you think my salary is good.”

She laughed and tapped his pocket. “I didn’t mean your salary. I was referring to you quitting cigarettes.”

Riza once told her that she was the first person that was able to convince him to try to quick smoking. She didn’t know how long it’d been since he’d had a cigarette but the office had been running a pool on it. Everyone had lost except for her and Riza because they didn’t place any bets to begin with. She had placed a bet on when Roy and Riza was going to get together, but, thankfully, they’d all lost already. There’d been a time limit for that bet, and that time limit was up.

“I’m trying.”

“And I appreciate that.” She looked up and down the hall before kissing him. “I’m going now.”

“Be careful,” he said.

“I will.

**-/-/-**

Riza felt like a snoop for listening in on the conversation, but enjoyed being a bit nosy once in a while. She wasn’t as bad as Rebecca. That woman went through painstaking effort to listen at the office doors. Someday she feared Rebecca would actually hear them in the office when they had “fun”. Maybe if she did, it would scare or disgust her to the point that she’d stop her snooping.

She walked to the small office she set up for herself where she could make a secured phone call to check on Fuhrer Grumman and try to convince him to be safer. Instead of a military officer, she would ask him as a granddaughter. The country would be in chaos if something happened to him right now. It wasn’t worth the risk even if it were small.

She picked up the phone and dialed the fuehrer’s military line. “Operator please connect me to Fuehrer Grumman’s office. Officer Code is 8675309. Security code is 221BBaker90210.”

“One moment, please.”

As expected, that moment turned out to be five minutes. One would think with a secured line to the fuehrer that it would be much less.

“Lieu—Major Hawkeye. What can I do for you?” She grinned. When she was promoted to captain, it was hard for people to get used to calling her by her rank. They hadn’t gotten accustomed to calling her captain before she was promoted to major.

“Permission to speak to you as a granddaughter, sir.”

There was a long pause on the phone, but she could make out an “oh shit,” coming from somewhere in the room as if Grumman had put down the phone and walked away. She tapped her fingers on the desk waiting for his answer. If he declined her request, she’d wait until she was off duty to speak to him. After figuring out she was his granddaughter—her parents had never told her that her grandfather was alive, much less in the military—they’d agreed to separate their professional and private lives as much as possible. It was rare that she’d ask permission to speak informally to him during work hours.

A cough signaled he was back on the phone. “All right, Riza. I suppose if I don’t allow it I’ll just be putting off the inevitable. What is it you want to say?”

“It’s about Vice Fuehrer Mustang and the current state of—”

He finally did it!”

When she heard the excitement in his voice, she knew he’d gotten the wrong idea.

“It’s about time he propose to you.”

Yep. Very wrong. “Grandfather, I...” She almost felt bad for giving him the hope-dashing news.

“Don’t tell me you said no,” he said and then groaned. “What kind of idiotic, ridiculo—”

“The only thing idiotic and ridiculous is your disregard for your protection!” Thank goodness no one was in the vicinity to hear what she said to the fuehrer. The only ones that knew he was her grandfather was Roy and Fuery, and in the latter’s case it was unavoidable since he worked as her adjutant.

He quieted. “Oh, so it’s about that.”

She lifted a hand to rub her temple and took a deep breath. “Yes, it’s about that. You put me in charge of security but disregard the orders I give my men. It’s making their job and mine harder. Above all, I’m worried about your safety. I’m asking this as your granddaughter, if you don’t go to a safe house, then please at least use the extra men I assigned to you.”

Grumman stayed quiet for a few beats. “Okay.”

“And furthermore—What?”

Grumman chuckled. “I’ve been thinking about what I did and you’re right. I’ll use the guards you provided without complaining.”

“Um…wow. I was expecting that to be much harder.”

“I can be reasonable once in a while,” he said. “I’m just unreasonable more often. You would be too if you had to deal with a council like mine. All the childishness is getting too much.”

He hadn’t had time to go about changing out the members that were on Bradley’s council (the ones that weren’t involved in the homunculi debacle). While he wasn’t opposed to someone being against his regulations, when they resorted to things like name-calling and sabotage, that’s where he had to draw the line. She could name two people that wouldn’t be on the council for much longer. “Thank you, grandfather.”

“My pleasure. You should call and visit more often outside of work. It’s lonely at the top.”

“I will,” she said and meant it. She wanted to spend more time with him since he was the only relative she had any contact with. Her family was already dead set against all things military. Even if she were to try to make contact with them, she’d be rebuffed.

“And get Mustang to propose before I die.” He hung up before she could reply. She moved the phone away from her ear and looked at the receiver before hanging it up. That action reminded her of Maes. As far as they knew, Maes had no clue that she and Roy were in love with one another and most of his marriage nagging regarding Roy had been in a general sense.

Her grandfather was her equivalent of Maes Hughes.

She was happy with the relationship she had with Roy. The only difference between what they had now and a legal marriage was the ceremony and a piece of paper. Everyone had been calling her Roy’s wife behind her back for years. They’d never discussed marriage and much to everyone’s disappointment, probably never would.

**-/-/-**

“How’d you do it?” Rebecca said the moment she got back from her errand at headquarters.

“Do what?” Riza asked as she entered Roy’s office.

“Convince Grumman to use his security. He actually has bodyguards outside his door now and is in a safer office. He’s stubborn as a mule, yet as soon as you ask him, he buffs up his security. That’s more than anyone else could get out of him.”

“You know how convincing Hawkeye can be, Catalina. The fact she convinced Fuehrer Grumman shouldn't be a surprise to you.”

“You’re right.”

Riza wasn’t sure if she should feel proud of what Roy said or a bit offended. When faced with decisions like that, she usually went with proud. She hated using her pull as a granddaughter to convince Grumman to do things, but felt it was her duty to keep the fuehrer and vice fuehrer safe in any way possible.

“Did you get an update on the shooting while you were at headquarters?”

“Yes, no one was injured or killed,” Rebecca said.

“So the idiot really did just do that as a joke?” Roy asked.

“Investigations aren’t sure, but there have been some reports of hostilities between the different tourist nationalities. It’s possible the shooter did it to scare people.”

“Some people have been making trouble in some of the tourists’ hotspots. There haven’t been any arrests they can use to fish for possible suspects, but there have been some reports filed,” Havoc said.

The phone on the table rang and Riza picked it up. “Hello?”

“Major Hawkeye, Colonel Armstrong has sent Second Lieutenant Maria Ross and Sergeant Denny Brosh to speak with Vice Fuehrer Mustang. They say it’s urgent,” the man stationed at the front doors said.

“Send them up then,” Riza said. She looked at Rebecca. “Did you know Brosh and Ross were coming?”

“Not a clue.”

A moment later there was a knock. Riza opened it to let the two inside. She locked the door and returned to her seat. The two approached Roy, stopped, and stood at attention.

Ross’s eyes were bloodshot and the skin underneath them was dark. Brosh’s cheeks were flushed and the majority of his weight was distributed on his left foot. Neither were the normally composed officers that she was used to seeing.

“At ease,” Roy said. “Please sit.”

Ross relaxed. Brosh slouched further in the chair and released a low sigh.

“Thank you, sir,” Brosh said.

“What is it we can do for you?” Roy said.

Ross bit her lip and looked at her partner before looking back at Roy. “They’ve caught the man they think is responsible for the shooting.”

“Armstrong couldn’t have called the secure line and told us that? They had to send you two?” Rebecca raised an eyebrow. “You two look like hell by the way.”

“Our state is one of the reasons we came.”

“Yeah, Armstrong didn’t actually send us. No one did.”

“So you lied to get in to see us?” Roy said. The tone in his voice indicated he was about to reprimand the two officers. Of course, his reprimands were never as obvious to the officers at the receiving end as much as they were to her. There were times they came out like an observation instead of a rebuke.

“Yes, sir, but we had no choice.” He covered his mouth with his fist and coughed a few times. “It’s gotten bad and there’s something that could create trouble if we didn’t come to you,” Brosh said.

“Armstrong had to go out of the city and his new second in command has been working the staff without any breaks. We’ve even had a few people faint.”

Riza wasn’t friends with Ross, but she knew the woman well enough to know she wasn’t the type to complain or tattle unless it was something detrimental to the workplace.

“That explains why the officer I talked with looked like he got run over by a team of horses, then backed over and shit on, and ran over again to rub it in. Like a shit massage.”

Leave it to Rebecca to come up with such colorful descriptions. Riza almost laughed at the odd looks everyone directed at her, and how oblivious she was to them.

Brosh coughed. “Then upon all of that, he decides to arrest an innocent man.” More coughing followed his sentence. Ross took over.

“Every time we tried to say something, he pulled rank and used his relative’s position to shut people up. When someone finally did manage to get a word in, we were told there was no need to notify you since you were busy and couldn’t be bothered with scum.”

“What makes you think he’s innocent? Have you interrogated him?”

“No one else is allowed to question him. If you saw the man in custody, you’d know he was innocent just from looking at him. Everyone in the office knows it.”

“It's not like you two to speak of a commanding officer that way,” Havoc said. “Especially around other higher officers.”

“This is important. We need your pull, sir,” Ross said to Roy.

“He's not leaving this house until all is secure,” Riza said.

“You're better suited to questioning suspects, Major Hawkeye. I give you authority to go in my stead. Whatever you choose, I will back you up.”

“Yes, sir,” she said.

**-/-/-**

Riza left the room with the two officers and then turned to Brosh. She slapped a hand on his forehead and cringed as heat seep into her palm. She took out her handkerchief and wiped off the sweat.

“Go home, Brosh,” Riza said.

“Ma’am?”

“You’re ill. Go home before you give that cold to someone else. I assume you’re only at work because of that officer?”

“He hasn’t been able to get home in two days,” Ross said.

Brosh glared at her.

“I’ll handle him. You take your sick leave,” Riza said. “Do you need someone to accompany you home?”

Brosh’s eyes were wide and staring at her to the point she felt uncomfortable. Before she could snap him out of his stupor he said, “I’ll be fine, thank you Major Hawkeye.”

“Just get better.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: There are three jokes in here regarding other media (TV, Music). I thought it would be fun to see if anyone could spot them.

**Author's Note:**

> Special thank you to my dear best friend Rinoaebastel for letting me vent about fanfiction.net.


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